Nadene Goldfoot
The topic dealt with the Crusaders and the Muslims. Jews were left out during this presentation. Now, Jerusalem had been THE CITY OF DAVID, created out of the city-state, Jebus, that was there when Joshua entered with the Exodus. Saul was the first king of Israel and David was the 2nd king, and built Jerusalem as his capital which was from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE. This was not mentioned. This turned out to be only the battles between the Crusaders and Saladin and his army. Yet it is a 6 part presentation of Jerusalem, a city inhabited by the Jews from 1271 with Joshua till 2021 and going strong; 3,292 years and not ending. There has never been a time when Jerusalem was devoid of Jews. Rome tried, but we still had people there, even though many people took it and lost it, none lived there. it had become an object, like the Hope Diamond, that everyone wanted to own.
However, in the beginning of the program, the 3 religions were mentioned with their most important reason for having Jerusalem important to their religion; Judaism had King Solomon's Temple, Christians had Jesus and Muslims had the flight of Mohammad with his flying horse from Jerusalem.
The first Crusade was in 1096 on 15th of August. The 5th was in 1217, ending in 1221. (Not mentioned )
Then it went on mentioning that in 1187 CE, the Jews were in Exile, not mentioning that Jews were living there since 1271 BCE, which was for almost 2,000 years, or that Jerusalem meant far more than even Solomon's Temple to them. I found that it was what was neglected to be said bothered me the most about their way of telling the story.
Saladin defeated the Crusaders, known to Muslims as the Franks, and recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. (So that's who the Franks were).
In 1099, Jerusalem, fell to the Muslims. (I recall that the Romans had destroyed the 2nd Temple and the city of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and that they had built a Roman temple over the destroyed Solomon's Temple. The Romans would choose a king over Judea and held power in that way. ) So the Muslims must have fought the Romans to take it. ) Saladin was a generous general. He united all the Arabs and they became his army.
The Crusaders seemed to be more messed up, disorganized. They held up the "TRUE CROSS" which was to me a piece of beautiful decorated art work, small, held in their hands, (I expected to see the original large cross) but it had magical powers. Maybe it was a cross made from the cross Jesus had been nailed to. I believe they said it was taken into battle. (Was it a take-off of the Jewish Ark that was carried into battle by the Jews?)
Saladin was presented as a clever soldier; poisoning the wells, causing smoke to choke up the Crusaders, and then they met for a gruesome sword fight.. The king of Jerusalem (King Guy (1150-July 18, 1194) also not mentioned that he was a French knight who was king by marriage to the right person from 1186 to 1192) was captured. Saladin was mentioned again as being a noble warrior, and Richard needed to leave and return to England. The Crusaders regrouped with the French king Guy.
In 1189, Saladin didn't kill his captured Crusaders, They were in Acre. Then the Crusaders attacked Saladin's men. More Crusaders joined the battle who came in ships, and Richard was angry at the stall of Saladin deciding what to do , so Richard killed all the Arab hostages, something Saladin found highly unethical. Richard left bodies lying around to cause fear. The reason both wanted Jerusalem is explained. They needed it for pilgrimage. That was all.
Both are trying to sell the idea of carrying on a war to their separate people. They have to do a good sales job. The Christians were told that Saladin was the son of Satan.
The 3rd Crusade is ready for action. That had stirred them up They were told that if they went and fought against the Muslims, their sins would all be forgiven.
A battle ensued and Richard, the great fighter, entered the battlefield from the back of the Muslim fighters and surprised them. He drove them out of Jerusalem. Then the Crusaders were ready to recapture Jerusalem.
Saladin still wanted his 3,000 men that were captured, returned to him. He was stalling Richard, trying to give himself better terms. Richard went into a rage and killed all of them. (I'm getting rummy with all these battles, just following my notes and the comments, repeating myself)
Richard then found out that his brother John was stealing his throne, so started to sail back to save it, but then returned to the fight and was outnumbered 3 to 1. Both leaders were exhausted and wrote letters to each other. Richard offered to rule together but Saladin refused. They finally came to terms with THE TREATY OF JAFFA, and each kept what they had in the first place.
What was not mentioned is something about our relative, Rabbi Eleazar of Worms, son of Judah ben Kalonymus of Mainz, Germany, a very well known story among historians. "According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Eleazar underwent great sufferings during the Crusades. The Jewish Encyclopedia states that on the night of 22 Kislev, 1196, he was engaged in his commentary on Genesis (Eleazar relates that he had reached the parashah Vayeshev), when two Crusaders entered his house and killed his wife Dulca (Dolce), his two daughters Belet (Belette) and Hannah, and wounded him and his son Jacob who did not escape. His wife had conducted a business in parchment scrolls in order to support the family and enable him to devote all his time to study. Many of the piyyutim he authored protests at Israel's suffering and hope for redemption and revenge against her tormentors. He also recorded the deaths of his family in a moving and poetic eulogy.' This is my example of how the Crusaders went through Europe, killing Jews, not mentioned in CNN's report, being Jews were left out of the picture.
In 1099 The Jewish community living in Jerusalem was massacred by the Crusaders. The Jewish men were fighting right along with the Muslims. The Crusaders couldn't tell them apart. This was not mentioned. Nothing was mentioned of the Jews still living in Judea.
In 1197, Richard was killed in a battle, dying by the sword. In 1193, Saladin died from an illness. His army was passed on to his sons. The Muslims wanted to control the Dome of the Rock as they felt it would push Islam forward.
Richard set the tone for people to hate Jews. Jews were expulsed from England in 1290, 93 years later. This was not mentioned, either.
At this period, Jews and Muslims were existing together in Jerusalem, and had fought and died together. The Jews in Europe were not accepted, and after a period, many did flee to Arab countries to live, treated as 2nd class citizens or Dhimmis, but going through less pogroms that what was occurring in Russia, etc. It was not until 1948 when Israel was created that Arabs rebelled at Jews by expulsing them from their countries.
CNN's website explains that Part of that complexity revolves around theological fault lines, as Jerusalem is sacred ground for three major world religions: Jews, Christians and Muslims all have significant and separate ties to an area that today is roughly 50 square miles. I waded through Anthony and Cleopatra last week, so await in trepidation when the Jewish side will be presented.
Resource
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_of_Lusignan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Crusade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleazar_of_Worms
https://aboutislam.net/reading-islam/research-studies/saladin-a-hero-admired-by-muslims-christians/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-siege-of-acre-when-the-lionheart-reached-the-holy-land-630711
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_I_of_England
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/18/middleeast/jerusalem-original-series-faith-and-fury-timeline/index.html
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